Oklahoma!

1955 - Dir: Fred Zinnermann

Shown at the FeckenOdeon on December 27th, 2010

Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1943 stage musical was considered revolutionary for a multitude of reasons, not least of which were the play's intricate integration of song and storyline, and the simplicity and austerity of its production design. This 1955 film version of Oklahoma! retains the songs and the story, but the simplicity gives way to the spectacle of Technicolor, Todd-AO, and Stereophonic Sound. Nine years is a long time in showbiz so the original Broadway stars were overlooked in favour of newer talent - though Aunt Eller is played by Charlotte Greenwood who the part was written for (illness had prevented her from playing it on the stage).
THE PLOT & CAST
The story can be boiled down to a single sentence: a girl must decide between the two suitors who want to take her to a social.
In her movie debut, 19-year-old Shirley Jones plays Laurie, an Oklahoma farm gal who is courted by boisterous cowboy Curley (Gordon MacRae) and by menacing, obsessive farm hand Jud Frye (Rod Steiger). Counterpointing the serious elements of the story is a comic subplot involving innocently promiscuous Ado Annie (Gloria Grahame), her erstwhile sweetheart Will Parker (Gene Nelson) and lascivious oriental travelling salesman Ali Hakim (Eddie Albert) - who looks and sounds as if the closest he’s been to the orient is the Bronx.
It’s all very jolly stuff and, as you might expect, the story ends on a high with the pioneering Oklahomers singing of the great future they and their newly minted state can look forward to... It’s ironic to note that the real settlers overworked the land and created the dust bowl chronicled in Steinbeck’s harrowing "Grapes of Wrath"....

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!

Oklahoma! was made twice at the same time... There were two versions. One was the general release CinemaScope version we’re seeing tonight. The other was the first film ever to be made in ToddAO - a process which used film 70mm wide (twice the width of the standard 35mm film) and which produced pin sharp pictures on the very biggest of screens - the ToddAO version was only shown in large city centre theatres. Director Fred Zinnermann and his long suffering cast shot each scene separately for the two versions - a long and tedious process which, we’re told, resulted in two subtly different movies. We’ll have to take their word for it because the ToddAO version no longer exists - 20th Century Fox ditched most of the prints and those that do survive are but faded shadows of their former glory. The print you’re watching tonight is a digital restoration of the 35mm version.

SHALL WE DANCE?

Just before the interval we’re treated to a classic 1950s Hollywood ballet - it’s all just a bad dream and it’s just as well because it’s all a bit strange. For some reason the leading characters are danced by people who don’t look a bit like them... except for Rod Steiger. It’s well executed but it seems to belong in a different film - it’s quite a relief to wake up in good old folksy Oklahoma again!

ELEPHANTINE CORN

Finding "corn as high as an elephant's eye" proved to be quite a challenge. Since filming was to take place out of season, no tall cornfields were to be found anywhere. The job was given to the people of the University of Arizona Agricultural Department, who planted each stalk in individual containers and held their breath. With rain and good luck, the corn grew to a height of 16 feet, causing Oscar Hammerstein to quip: "The corn is now as high as the eye of an elephant on top of another elephant."